These Failures Precluded Showing Abuse Of Discretion In Failing To Apportion.
Park v. Joong-Ang Daily News Calif., Inc., Case No. B268678 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Nov. 21, 2017) (unpublished) is a situation where plaintiff won $119,088.29 on certain wage/hour violations and was later awarded statutory fees of $258,155 (inclusive of a “fees on fees” award, but no award of a requested 1.5-2.0 positive multiplier).
The defense appeal did not succeed for a flaw which usually is fatal to any appellate challenge: failure to provide an adequate record. Here, appellant failed to supply the trial judge’s tentative decision or a reporter’s transcript of the fee hearing, which made it impossible to review whether the lower court abused its discretion in not apportioning fees out for unsuccessful claims work—much less any other challenges to the reasonableness of the amount awarded.
BLOG OBSERVATION—Many, many appellate courts, not just divisions of the Second District, are rejecting fee challenges unless a reporter’s transcript of the hearing is provided. That means the litigant who is trying to preserve appellate issues needs to either find out if the department does not a court reporter or, as is more likely the situation now where fiscal burdens are high priorities, provide one’s own court reporter (usually finding out from the superior court those reporters who are on the court’s “approved” list). Generally speaking, fee entitlement issues are legal questions which survive with a reporter’s transcript, but most other challenges which are more factually intensive will evade review in the absence of a hearing transcript.
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